Fresh Start

Sharpen the Saw

If you haven’t read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by the brilliant Stephen R. Covey, I highly recommend it. Although it was published over 25 years ago, and yet the paradigms are as applicable today as they were then.

It’s the end of the year, and what a year it has been!

Professionally, the organization that I support has grown 300% since I joined just 18 months ago. I’ve had the esteemed privilege of building a powerhouse team, and we have completely overhauled the HR department and processes so that we would be staged for this rapid growth. So, if you have been wondering why I haven’t published much lately, that’s part of it. I’m very thankful to be spending this week between Christmas and New Year’s with my children on PTO.

Personally, I’m readjusting to life as a single parent. I’m being super intentional with my time – ensuring that the time with my children is quality time, making time for the amazing friends that I have been blessed to have in my life, and spending time with those I love.

Also personally, I’ve been working on my Masters degree. Who needs free time? Me. I’m pretty sure that after I finish this program, I’ll start my 12 step program to stop being such a masochist with my schedule. Step 1 – I admit I have a problem.

Back to Covey: the 7th Habit is Sharpen the Saw: the habit of renewal. My mantra in my life and my work is continuous improvement and increasing effectiveness in all areas. What better time than the new year when we’re all working on our resolutions to commit to renewing our body, heart, mind and soul?

What are you going to do today to renew yourself?

Do you have an accountability partner — or two?

My dear friend Corin is my workout buddy and my accountability partner to make sure that I’m not just making a monthly donation to Planet Fitness – I’m actually using it. My children are my accountability partner for my heart as they keep me grounded and remind me that people and the experiences are more important than the stuff and things. My team reminds me that together we can do anything. We had some seemingly insurmountable challenges this year, and my team exceeded my expectations with their ability to work together and take care of the organization and the talented, hardworking people we support.

It’s vitally important to surround ourselves with those that will support us and challenge us to become the best possible version of ourselves.

Looking forward to closing out this decade of lessons learned and putting energy into renewal for 2020.

Someone Needs to Hear This: Put More White Space on Your Calendar

We, as a society, have morphed into a celebration of busyness. Don’t believe me? Take a look at your calendar, and tell me how much white space there is…Now tell me how much peace vs. pressure you feel not to occupy the white space?

A few things happen when we pack our calendars and to-do lists to the point of capacity: We leave no margin for the ability to spend extra time as wanted or needed, we leave no room for the last minute “must do now” project or conversation, and we leave plenty of room for error from simply being so rushed and overwhelmed – which we brought on ourselves.

I’m my own worst critic. Most of us are. I’m also the one who controls my calendar – down to scheduling calls during my 60+ minute commute. I like to think that I’m making the best use of my time, but what I’m taking away is my white space. White space is the time that you take to brainstorm, decompress, process your day, plan your day, etc. This is necessary time, and I would bet $5 that most of us don’t have enough of this time on our calendars.

The announcement of retirement by Andrew Luck this weekend put my own priorities into perspective. I admire his ability to make the choice that he made. What about you? Would you make the same choice? Does it feel safe to do so? Would you be called a quitter? Would you be playfully chastised for throwing in the towel? How much of other’s opinions of your ability to keep all the balls in the air determine your “yes” and “no”?

We often talk about setting realistic expectations with others, and my dear friends, it is time that we set realistic expectations with ourselves. Take time to evaluate what you have committed to, what truly matters most to you, and make adjustments – guilt-free, as needed. Your stress will decrease, your productivity will increase, and your quality of life will improve. I know this because I have done this before, and I have reached the point of needing to repeat the exercise.

Someone needs to hear this – and today, that someone was me.

Resolutions? Simple. Be Kind. Stay Positive

It seems simple enough, but I hope that we all share a resolution this year and every year:  Be Kind.  Stay Positive.

There are very few situations in life and business where a little kindness and positivity can’t help.  When a mistake is made, humility and kindness go a long way.  Likewise with communication mishaps or misunderstandings.

Kindness and a spirit of curiosity vs judgment is essential in conflict and when dealing with uncharted territory as well.  There are very few things that are irreparable.  They may take work to correct – and sometimes a LOT of work, but very few things can’t be fixed, and if we can all keep that in mind, I think we’ll treat each other a lot differently.

Assuming AND COMMUNICATING positive intent can be the difference behind “We are trying this new process to improve the business, and we are excited about it – please provide feedback along the way so we can make sure we all succeed!” vs. “Look, don’t shoot the messenger.  They have no idea how much work we already have to do, and now they are changing it AGAIN.  I tried to go to bat for you, but they don’t listen to me, either.”  Positivity and kindness – difference makers.

If you lead teams, you represent the organization for them.  Resolve to be a positive representation of the organization.  If you are optimistic for the future of your department and the organization, your team will take their cues from you.  Let’s all aim to build more bridges, lift our teams up, and to begin 2019 with 365 chances to have a fresh perspective each day.  We will inevitably catch ourselves not living this value.  Forgive yourself and do better the next day.

Be kind and stay positive – to yourself and others.

You Have to Start Somewhere

Thanks for joining me on this journey!  The adorable pup pictured above is Maximus the Minimus.  I keep this picture of him as the wallpaper on my laptop, constantly reminding me not to take myself or situations so seriously.

My goal of this site is to create a starting place for conversations around servant leadership, HR, finding your voice, courage, belonging (Thank you for your work, Brené Brown), being intentional in our work, and encouraging others to do the same.  Thank you for the encouragement, Steve Browne!  Steve is the most humble, genuine, intentional human being you will ever meet, and knowing Steve, I’m certain you already have.

There’s never a “good” time to start something like this.  I’ve been jotting down or dictating to Siri ideas for this blog for a little over a year.  I would get an idea from a #Nextchat post, or have a conversation that spoke to my soul, and I’d type it in the little Note app on my iPhone.  At first it was possible titles, then ideas for posts.

What held me back?  Fear.  Fear of not having any idea what I was doing.  Spoiler alert:  I don’t.  You’re welcome to join me as I figure it out, though, and I’ve already gotten one thing done right.  I STARTED.

Thank you for checking out my blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment to continue the conversation.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton